The Turner Chronicle

Random pictures from January and February

2010-03-07T13:27:00.001-08:00

First day home, laying on daddy

Playing with his new Thomas set from AJ and Uncle David

Playing with his bath toys from the Rozas

Meeting GramP

Meeting Aunt Jamie

Ellie was having problems falling asleep, so Gavin decided to read her a couple of his favorite books.

Sitting in her papasan chair for the first time

Showing off her pretty cloth diaper set made by Amber from Mudshrimps

Our 2 kids playing together for the first time :-)

First smile, February 10th, 2010

On her way to her 6 week appointment - 21.5 inches, 10 lbs 13 oz

First Valentine's Day February 14th, 2010

I love taking pictures of Gavin and Ellie together!

Purim 2010!

2010-02-28T14:54:00.000-08:00

On Friday Gavin's school did a Purim Parade and Party. Here is daddy putting on Gavin's King Ahasuerus costume.

Daddy is walking with him in the parade

Here they the Early Childhood Center is gathered around with their parents to listen to the fun story of Purim and shake their grogers

Now they are in the small chapel listening and dancing with Ms. Pat

Now back to the classroom for more songs

Time for snacks and hamantaschen

On Sunday we went to the synagogue to hear the Purim story, it was a lot of fun, the older kids made a slide show.

Now off to the Purim Carnival!

Gavin's 3rd Birthday Party

2010-01-31T14:03:00.000-08:00

Ellianna's First Doctor Appointment

2010-01-14T14:45:00.000-08:00

Gavin came too!

2 Week Appointment
7 lbs 9 oz
20 in

Ellianna Rose Turner's Birth Story

2010-01-08T09:49:00.000-08:00

Written from Mom's perspective: (Might be a little TMI)

We went into the hospital at midnight Thursday night. They put in the Cytotec and I tried unsuccessfully to get some sleep. At 6am they started the Pitocin slowly. The Pitocin contractions were pretty mild, like the ones I had throughout the month. At 8:30am my OB, Dr. Thein, showed up and checked me. I was only 1.5 cm dilated and she was up really high. Dr. Thein told me that it would be a long day and would most likely continue on into the night. We told him that was fine, no rush, so far the labor was only slightly uncomfortable and we wanted to take every precaution to insure a non surgical birth.

After the doctor left my nurse came in and asked if I wanted to be put on the waiting list for an epidural, there were a lot of scheduled c-sections and it would be a while before I would have another opportunity. I declined, my labor was more than tolerable and I didn't want to be confined to the bed and immobile. Ellianna was sunny side up, which means that she was facing posterior, and being able to labor in different positions would definitely be helpful. About ten minutes after the nurse left my contractions started to get really bad. Much worse than I remember them being with Gavin. I couldn't even breathe during them, I sent Mike out to the nurse to tell her I wanted on that epidural list pronto! By the time Mike got back I was moaning, writhing, and panting "help!". The pain was beyond unbearable.

Ten minutes later the anesthesiologist came in and was worried that he wouldn't be able to get the epidural in because I was moving so much. I told him I would force myself to stay still, I couldn't handle the pain much longer. The nurse wanted to check my progress before he did the epidural, but I told her to wait, I needed the drugs ASAP. It took him a long time to get the epidural in and it was very hard to breathe and hold still during the contractions, but I managed. After they got it in, the nurse went to check me while the anesthesiologist was going to put in the medicine.

She checked me and told me I was complete and turned me on my side and told me no matter what not to push. At this point my body wanted to push, and I couldn't really control it so they were holding my legs together. She ran out to call the doctor as my water broke and she was starting to crown. At this point the anesthesiologist told me that he wasn't going to put in the meds, there was no way it would be effective by the time I gave birth. When the nurse came back and saw that my water had broken and she was crowning she ran out into the hall again, but this time she grabbed an OB in his street clothes drinking his coffee.

By the time the OB had his gloves on I pushed once and out flew Ellie facing the right way! The baby nurse was wonderful and the minute she was born the nurse undid my gown and put her on my chest, skin to skin, and cleaned her there. The minute my baby was on my chest she latched right on to nurse. She spent her first hour of life on her mommy nursing and cuddling skin to skin. It was more than perfect.

10 minutes after Ellianna was born my OB came running in all frazzled looking. The minute he got the call he ran out of his office got in the car and realized he had a flat tire. He was able to pull into a gas station and asked a guy pumping gas to drop him off at the hospital. The guy dropped him off in front of the hospital and Dr. Thein ran in. How he managed to get from Dana Point to the hospital with a flat tire and hitchhiking in under 20 minutes is beyond me. He is truly an amazing man who really cares about his patients.

After Dr. Thein finished sewing me up (I guess forcing a baby out in one push can cause a bit of tearing) the baby nurse ushered everyone out so that way Mike, Ellie, and I could have some family time for a while. It was just so wonderful. After an hour or so they came back in to fully bathe her and do all of her check up stuff.

After half an hour of intense excruciating pain, I got the birth of my dreams. Pain meds free (I guess God had my best interests at heart even during my moment of weakness), short and quick, with a wonderful beginning to an attached relationship.

Ellianna Rose Turner
Born: January 8th, 2010
Time: 9:49 am
Weight: 7 lbs 7 oz
Height: 19.5 inches
Apgar: 9,9

Ellianna being cleaned on Mama's chest

Getting her first bath by the nurses

Getting weighed

With her daddy!

Gavin hasn't stopped smiling since the minute her first saw her :-)

Sleeping on daddy

Hanukkah 2009

2009-12-21T13:38:00.000-08:00

Lighting Menorahs at the park with friends

Of course the rest are opening presents - Gavin's favorite part :-)

Mike, who the Wii was probably really for

Hanukkah Party at Preschool

2009-12-18T13:46:00.000-08:00

Eating a Latke

Gavin didn't want to spin like a dreidel

Hanukkah Cookies with Kaia

2009-12-12T13:32:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving 2009!

2009-11-26T13:29:00.000-08:00

Ellianna's Nursery

2009-11-22T20:57:00.000-08:00

Ellie's Diaper Stash

2009-11-22T20:39:00.001-08:00

Like any cloth diaper enthusiast, I wanted to show off my stash of newborn & small diapers :-)
Newborn and infant Indian prefolds, stacked 2 deep.

Extra small diaper covers (some are on loan from Amy - thank you!)

Small diaper covers (Mudshrimps)

Extra small pockets

Small pockets

One size Fuzzi Bunz pockets

My Sakura Bloom silk sling - so excited to use it!

Making a Birthday Card and Keychain for Gavin's Teacher

2009-11-15T13:26:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T20:24:00.000-07:00

We had a great Halloween! We had lots of family over and Gavin had a blast trick or treating. Here are some pictures from trick or treating.

Gavin loved carrying the flashlight, even more than the candy.

Trick or treating with Grandpa

Some cool things we saw along the way, people on our street really get into the spirit of Halloween.

Playing with Kaia at the Park

2009-10-26T21:58:00.000-07:00

Trick or Treating at the Fair with Kaia

2009-10-25T21:56:00.000-07:00

Halloween Craft Playdate at the House

2009-10-22T21:50:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Carving with Uncle Zach

2009-10-21T21:52:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin City

2009-10-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

Revisiting the Goathill Railroad

2009-10-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

If you haven't guessed already, Gavin is a huge train fan. So we took him down to the Goathill Railroad to ride the train again, the last time he went was about 6 months ago. Here he is getting ready to ride the train with daddy.

Halloween Photo Shoot

2009-10-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

It is so obvious that we are not professionals...... We took him down to the train depot again, but this time had him dress up in his costume so we could find the perfect shot for our annual Halloween cards - here are some of the outtakes for your enjoyment.

This one was the winner for the Halloween cards!

Getting Ready for Halloween

2009-10-15T21:28:00.000-07:00

Mommy's favorite holiday is Halloween, so of course we start the festivities early. Here we are making scary cookies.

And making a fun art project

Gavin's First Day of Preschool

2009-09-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

Gavin starts out his day by going to Breakfast Club for 20 minutes.

Then the Breakfast Club teacher walks him to his classroom.

This is Gavin's classroom, he was very excited that they have a train table in there! His teacher is Ms. Kelly and you can see her in the background.

Bowers Kidseum!

2009-09-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

Our First Mitzvah Project with Mazel Tots!

2009-08-31T20:57:00.000-07:00

For part one of our Mitzvah Project we met at a park and made stained glass Star of Davids made out of paper plates an tissue paper to give to the residents at Heritage Pointe.

Afterwards the kids had some snacks and played.

Then we went to Heritage Pointe the week after and handed out the stained glass windows, which the residents loved and let the kids played with them for an hour or so. They had such a wonderful time that they want to have us back as much as possible.

Baby Number 2 is a .........

2009-08-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

GIRL!!!!!!!!!!
Here are some ultrasound photos of her from the month of August.

Mazel Tots goes to Fire Station #9

2009-08-10T11:24:00.000-07:00

August Tot Shabbat in the Park with Mazel Tots

2009-08-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

They all decided to play hide and seek, but everyone was counting and no one was hiding haha

We let them play after the services - really cool venue

Water Park Playdate!

2009-08-03T11:30:00.000-07:00

OC Fair!

2009-08-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

Watching Weird Al's 3D Brain

Gavin's very first ride! He loved it!

Gavin's 2nd ride, the teacups and he loved it even more!

Playing with a truck (of course) in the sand pit

Gavin looking at the animals!

Daddy and Gavin Playing in our New Pool

2009-07-26T17:40:00.000-07:00

Pump It Up!

2009-07-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

Gavin is such a little athlete!!! He was able to climb all of the ladders, do the obstacle courses, even the huuuuuge slides that mommy was even a little scared of.

Gavin Rides His Tricycle

2009-07-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

Thank you Nonnie for the awesome tricycle! He looooves it! It is definitely his toy of choice

Playdate at Kaia's

2009-07-10T17:28:00.000-07:00

Gavin Rocks Out!

2009-07-01T17:18:00.000-07:00

Baby #2 Due January 7th 2010 - 12 week pictures

2009-06-20T16:22:00.000-07:00

CPK Playdate with Preschoolers and Playmates!

2009-05-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

Fun tour and make your own pizzas! It was hard to keep Gavin from eating it while he was making it!

Back To Zoomars With Kayla

2009-05-20T17:09:00.000-07:00

Father's Day Playdate and Craft

2009-05-12T17:06:00.000-07:00

Fun With Playdough

2009-05-01T17:16:00.000-07:00

Making Cookie Bars

2009-05-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

We are........

2009-04-27T16:58:00.000-07:00

Fun New Sprinklers for the Backyard

2009-04-15T16:56:00.000-07:00

Long Beach Aquarium

2009-04-07T16:53:00.000-07:00

My New Kitchen!

2009-04-05T16:38:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone who sent me Toys R Us gift cards for my birthday!!!! I got the coolest play kitchen!! It has stainless steel, makes noises when you cook.... it is wonderful! You will have to come over to see it.

The train I rode for an hour at Kayla's house.

Fun With Magic Sand

2009-04-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

Daddy teaching Gavin how to play T-Ball

2009-03-26T16:31:00.000-07:00

Discovery Science Museum

2009-03-25T16:41:00.000-07:00

Fun trip to the Discovery Science Museum with the Childers.

Mike's Dodgeball Tournament

2009-03-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

It was so funny I had to post this! Notice the arms bands, headbands, and knee socks!

Goathill Railroad!

2009-03-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

lov

This was so much fun! Gavin loved going on the little train all around the huge park!

St. Patrick's Day Playdate!

2009-03-17T16:33:00.000-07:00

Gavin and Connor's Playdate

2009-02-15T21:19:00.001-08:00

Valentine's Day Playdate

2009-02-12T21:18:00.000-08:00

Zoomars Petting Zoo

2009-02-10T21:08:00.000-08:00

Gavin's 2nd Birthday!

2009-01-31T20:40:00.000-08:00

We decided to celebrate Gavin's birthday at home this year. Since Gavin's favorite show is Blue's Clues we did a Blue's Clues theme. Here is the picture that Uncle Zach helped us make for the front of his invitations.

Before his party we took Gavin to get his haircut (instead of mommy doing it)

Pictures from the party

Hanukkah!

2008-12-31T20:38:00.000-08:00

Doing the Hanukkah candles with daddy

Art supplies from mommy and daddy

My masterpiece

Hmmm what could this be...

Ride on truck

Opening up my gift from Great Aunt Marcia and Uncle Barry

Reading the books Great Aunt Marcia and Uncle Barry gave me

I got Bristle Blocks!

Can never get too many Dr. Seuss books

Getting gifts from GramP

Opening up a gift from GramC

My last gift from Mommy and Daddy..

A cool rug to play with my cars on..

Come here Roxy....

You wanna cuddle?

Awww cuddle cuddle

Pictures from October

2008-10-31T21:01:00.000-07:00

Here is Mike and Gavin on the tractor at Bates Nut Farm, our yearly pre-Halloween tradition. It is a really cool place!

We decided to take Gavin's Halloween card picture at Bates Nut Farm but couldn't get a good enough picture...... then we lost the costume at the farm wooops!

Mad dash to get a new costume....

Ok, meerkat it is!

He had such a good time running around in his costume at the park!

Taking a time out with Uncle Zach

Gavin made us a cute Halloween poster at his playdate

Coloring a mini pumpkin at another playdate

Gavin's First Time Trick or Treating!

Eating Daddy's birthday cake after a fun night of trick or treating

What a great month!

Pictures from September

2008-09-30T22:01:00.000-07:00

Playing catch up since I haven't posted in a while - so here is a month in review.

Gavin in tighty whiteys - slowly starting potty training.

Gavin riding a pony for the first time at the Sunset Market

I love fluffy dogs!

Fun Playdate....... 2 girls for every boy...

Gavin and Kayla at the mall, such a gentleman, he lets her have the seat.

Gavin's first water color

Cuddling with daddy

Roger Nestie From First Team Real Estate

2008-09-24T14:56:00.000-07:00

I am editing this on August 30th, 2009 due to threats. We had a very bad experience dealing with Roger and I posted what happened and how it affected my family last year. Normally I would fight back because I believe that when you have a truly awful experience it is your responsibility to review the service or product and let other people know so no one else has to go through it. But I am pregnant, have a beautiful little boy, and a wonderful upstanding husband and don't want them in any danger. So I have removed the original post.

If you have googled looking for information or references I would like to commend you, and unfortunately right now there aren't any review sites on realtors, so unless you have a recommendation from a friend, you kind of go in blind. Please contact me if you would like more information - if this is Roger, I did what you asked, instead of going to one of the many lawyers in our family, so please just leave us alone.

Into the Next Size

2008-08-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

So as most of you know Gavin is growing like a weed and he has outgrown all of his cloth diaper covers, so we had to get him some size in size large. Here he is showing off his coveres from Mudshrimps and from Berry Imperfect Designs

Chicks think this is sexy

Hey mom! I want to see the camera!

Oh the terrible twos are starting early!

My First Picture

2008-08-09T21:25:00.000-07:00

My first time actually coloring without attempting to eat the crayons! For some reason I prefer to draw using the bottom end of the crayola.

Playwerx

2008-07-09T16:21:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Playwerx and Gavin had a blast. They have a special little area just for toddlers and Gavin was amazing! They had these huge steps to get up to the slide and Gavin was a pro! I was worried it was too advanced for him...... some of the three year olds were struggling, but he mastered it! My little athlete.

Once he is old enough to go on the big structure unattended I can sit and enjoy some coffee, play on my laptop and relax while he plays. It is a great place!

4th of July!

2008-07-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

Well, 4th of July was a very crazy day! We met Gavin's Nonnie and Marty at Downtown Disney for lunch where he had a lot of fun and got some adorable Nemo toys.

Then we went up to Fullerton HS so Gavin could play with Uncle David. Unfortunately Uncle David was really busy setting up for a 4th of July fair so we didn't get any pictures with him. But here he is playing with some of the flag decorations.

Afterwards we went to a birthday party for Gavin's friend Colin in Laguna Niguel. We had a great time, but unfortunately didn't take any pictures.

Sunthings Charming Rave Review

2008-06-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

Sunthings Charming got another rave review! Check it out! Gruntlings.com

Izzy's Birthday Party

2008-06-08T20:35:00.000-07:00

Gavin's friend from playgroup, Isabella, had her first birthday party today and had some animal trainers come from the Wild Animal Park with some exotics animals. Here are just a few that Gavin got to see and pet.

Gavin petting a chinchilla

Izzy petting an alligator

A kinkajou, what Gavin wants for his next birthday

Mmmm forgot what this guy is called...... If you know please comment.

Gavin and Kayla

2008-06-07T20:29:00.000-07:00

So our friends, Rich, Shana, and Kayla came over for a bbq and it was a lot of fun. We had delicious ribs salads, and strawberry shortcakes made with our hand picked strawberries. I am so glad we met them, it is great to have good friends down here is SD. Here is a cute picture of Kayla and Gavin playing with his leaptop, we may put it in their wedding slideshow (getting ahead of ourselves? Noooo....)

A Strawberry Picking We Will Go.....

2008-06-05T20:47:00.000-07:00

Another fun fieldtrip with Carlsbad Munchkins and Mommies...... Today we went to U-Pick Strawberries in Carlsbad. Gavin had such a great time!
After watching Mommy pick some, Gavin wanted to try!

We kept the binky in his mouth to keep him from eating the unwashed berries.

He picked the strawberries all by himself and put them in the bucket! He learned how just by watching mommy a few times!

He had such a good time!

He was really good about not eating the berries, but towards the end he took out his binky to eat.... dirt? Haha
We filled our bucket about 2/3 of the way and then had to go home..... why you ask? Gavin started squishing the berries after picking them so we had to rush home and shower. Little stinkers...

Gavin loved the strawberries so much he ate 8 of them for dessert.

Another Milestone

2008-06-02T20:42:00.000-07:00

I put on Word World for Gavin while I cooked dinner, and when I looked over the counter my mouth dropped open.

Gavin was sitting on the couch and watching TV like it was no big deal! He can get on and off the couch easily, like he has been doing it for months. He is growing up so fast!

Field Trip To The Firestation!

2008-05-21T20:13:00.000-07:00

So our Carlsbad mommy group took a field trip to Carlsbad Fire Station #2. It was so cool and so much fun! They taught us fire safety, stop - cover your face (this one was new to me) - drop - and roll, what to do in case of emergency, and the most common infant/toddler emergencies.

During their presentation all Gavin wanted to know is what was in their cabinets.

Gavin was amazed with the hose coming out of the ceiling.

One of the firefighters got all dressed up in the yellow get-up explaining to us how important it is that our little ones are not afraid of them in that outfit so that they have an easier time rescuing them. Gavin had absolutely no fear of the outfit at all.

Then the fireman put on his oxygen mask and did the Darth Vader breathing and Gavin freaked out. He cried hysterically for five minutes, then clung to mommy for the rest of the trip. I couldn't even get him to go back into the garage. I do not have a picture of this, I shoved the camera in my pocket and held him tightly. My poor little man.

My Own Pool!

2008-05-18T20:05:00.000-07:00

We decided to get a fun baby pool for our patio for Gavin to play in. He had such a good time! It has a slide, a waterfall, and a palm tree!

Mother's Day 08

2008-05-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

My mommy's group did mommy & baby portraits at the Oceanside Pier and Mike treated me for my mother's day gift.
What do you think?

Thank you Zach for retouching

Potty Time! (little tmi)

2008-04-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

Blurb from Mama:

I know that technically you shouldn't even attempt to potty train a baby until they are around 2 years old....... but as I was walking through Target, I had an idea. Parenting books and friends told me to look for the following signs to know if your baby is ready to be potty trained:

-they hold it until they wake up in the morning (his diaper has always been dry when he wakes up) Check!

-they start to poop more regularly (he poops every day in the same spot, same time, same position)
Check!

-they let you know when they have a dirty diaper (he has done this ever since we tried cloth) Check!

-they show an interest in the toilet (for the past month he has tried to climb onto it)
Check!

When I was walking through the baby aisles at Target I saw the little potty seat that attaches to the toilet and thought, "hey, I don't expect anything.... maybe I will read to him there once a day to get him used to it, and if I see him doing his froggy squat on the tile I can race him over to it and save myself some cleaning time."

So that night I put him on the potty and read him a book and heard a tinkle tinkle! It was so adorable (only moms can understand the glorious noise). The next night I did it again and after the first book I heard a tinkle tinkle and cheered! As I was about to lift him off he started to grunt a little bit and we got a poopy in the potty too! The third night we got tinkles and poopy again as well!

Did I mention that he will only stay on the potty if he can hold onto Mommy's birthday balloon from Uncle Zach? Hahaha

Am I trying to potty train him right now? No, I am just getting him used to it and saving myself some cleaning time. I plan on putting him on there once a day for a while then adding more times per day, till eventually we are in full blown potty training mode. Will he be potty trained by 2 years? I am sure he will be way before then.

Drawing for the first time!

2008-03-29T14:04:00.000-07:00

It lasted about 2 minutes, then he tried to eat the crayons. I think we will try again in a few weeks.

Gavin's First Piece of Pizza

2008-03-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

Only in America (maybe Italy too) would this be a truly monumental event! Thank you Oggi's for the delicious pizza!

Daddy & Gavin at My Gym

2008-03-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

Daddy helping me with warm ups

Woohoo on the rollercoaster car!

The Acrobats by Shell Silverstein

I'll swing,
By my ankles,
She'll cling
To your knees
As you hang
By your nose
From a high-up
Trapeze.
Just one thing, please,
As we float through the breeze--
Don't sneeze.

Getting ready for his big J-U-M-P!

Bubbles & Bubbles

Gavin Figures out the Playground

2008-03-16T16:31:00.000-07:00

Soccer Playdate

2008-03-12T20:32:00.001-07:00

Sharing his toys with Peyton

Gavin's back twin, Charlie has the exact same dirty blonde curls, so cute!

Our many attempts at getting a group picture!

Mmmmm water!

It was a fun playdate! Too bad we never played soccer.........

First Time in a Swing!

2008-03-01T20:26:00.000-08:00

Gavin Opens & Closes Doors

2008-02-10T14:53:00.000-08:00

Daddy & I Go to the Park

2008-02-02T13:26:00.000-08:00

Gavin Plays With His Birthday Presents

2008-01-30T13:10:00.000-08:00

I love my tunnel!

Woohoo I fit in my Little People Wagon!

I love my little push buggy, mommy uses it to take me to the
park.

Look I can push the buggy too!

Daddy building me my first tricycle from Nonnie, I love it!

Gavin's First Birthday Party!

2008-01-27T12:47:00.000-08:00

Gavin's First Birthday Cake

Gavin's Auntie Jamie & Auntie Laura

Happy Birthday Gavin!

First Haircut Was a Nightmare!!!

2008-01-18T18:35:00.000-08:00

We decided to go to this kid's haircut place in the mall, a horrible, horrible mistake!! I told the girl to just trim his hair so it wasn't in his eyes and tickling his ears, that I wanted to keep his golden curls. When she told me that they use hair clippers for the baby's safety, I should have known that she was an amateur.

Before

After

Ack! Now he looks like a marine and his birthday party is this coming weekend! I am so upset!

Gavin Walks for the Camera

2008-01-03T13:58:00.000-08:00

Misc. Pictures From December

2007-12-30T14:55:00.000-08:00

Tupperware Party

2007-12-23T15:02:00.000-08:00

Gavin went crazy in the tupperware cabinet!

Gavin Loves His Mini Water Bottle

2007-12-20T14:49:00.000-08:00

So we have had a lot of problems
trying to get Gavin to take a bottle
and a sippy cup. But he always seems
to reach for my water bottle, so when I
saw these mini sport top water bottles
at Albertsons, I had an idea. I bought
an 8 pack of them and when we got home
I pretended to drink from it and of course
he reached for it.

This time I gave it to him, and he loves it!!
It can be a little messy, so we only put water in them.

Gavin's First Hanukkah Party

2007-12-18T14:35:00.000-08:00

We had over Gavin's two sets of grandparents, two great
grandmothers and one great grandpa. Everyone wanted
to help Gavin celebrate his first Hanukkah!

Here is Gavin with his mom and dad lighting the menorah for everyone.

Gavin is Walking!!!!!

2007-12-14T21:14:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that tonight Gavin took 6 unassisted steps on his own!!! For the past 2 weeks he was able to do one or two steps in a row then fall..... now he can do 6 and stop with a steady stand still.

We are so proud!!

Video to be posted when we can get him to do it for the camera.

What happened to the wee little baby???

**Gavin walks at ten and a half months old

Gavin's Music Video Debut

2007-12-08T10:19:00.000-08:00

Gavin bounces like crazy to his favorite song, "Monsters Go Away!" on Robbo's Blanket Kid CD.

This can get kind of long and boring....... we will not be offended if you only watch some of it ;-)

Gavin's Second Gift

2007-12-05T16:48:00.000-08:00

Aunt Marcia and Uncle Barry got Gavin an adorable Baby Einstein pop up book that makes noise! He screams when we take it away from him - he loves it!

Gavin's First Night of Hanukkah!

2007-12-04T23:19:00.000-08:00

Here is Gavin unwrapping his first Hanukkah gift! (look how curly his hair is after a bath!)

His favorite part of the whole gift was the wrapping paper!

He picked up how to walk with it really fast!

Gavin Climbs the Stairs!

2007-12-03T16:28:00.000-08:00

Happy Turkey Day!

2007-11-22T15:36:00.000-08:00

I can't wait until we have a big enough dining room to host Thanksgiving so that we don't have to choose between our 3 sided family! It is such a tough decision, but for the baby's sake, we forced ourselves to limit it to one household (one is stimulating enough). We decided to go to Mike's cousin Stacy's because Gavin's grandma (Mike's mom) was going to be there and she hadn't met Gavin yet, so that definitely takes precedence.

We had so much fun and the food was sooooo yummy! Gavin loved meeting his Grandma Lori and his Uncle Kevin. My only regret is that I barely took any pictures! What was I thinking! I don't even have one with Grandma Lori holding Gavin! Bad mommy!

Well here are two pictures, one with Uncle Kevin holding my niece Anna, and one with cousin Jaydon holding Gavin.

2007-11-18T17:27:00.001-08:00

Gavin's Learning Table

2007-11-18T10:02:00.000-08:00

Gavin is now crawling like a pro! Cruisin' like a pro! Now he is standing for a minute at a time unassisted! We are so proud of our little athlete!

Halloween '07

2007-11-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

We went to downtown Encinitas for Halloween. They had a huge "safe trick or treat" street, and a band called "The Peanut Butter Cookies" playing fun music for the kids to dance to. Gavin had a great time!

This is Gavin before we left for Encinitas!

Daddy and Gavin listening to the band sing, I am a Little Teapot.

These are some of the really cool pumpkins that were on display!

This one is my favorite - saying thank you to the fire department for their excellent work in the fires.

Sunthings Charming

2007-10-16T16:23:00.001-07:00

Please help mommy stay at home with me! Spread the word about her at home business! Buy one for yourself and a few to dangle from the ribbons atop baby shower gifts!

www.SunthingsCharming.com

Bate's Nut Farm

2007-10-14T18:58:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the Bate's Nut Farm. It was so much fun! I think we will make it a pre-Halloween tradition!

First Time Swimming!

2007-09-05T16:10:00.000-07:00

He started off in the sling so that he could get used to the water

He loves being in the water, towards the end of our pool excursion he learned how to splash! I would've taken pictures, but the camera is not water proof ;-)

ARMY CRAWLING!!!

2007-09-04T14:28:00.002-07:00

Gavin can finally move forward! He is army crawling and doing so well!